“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger..."

“One day a man from Baal-shalishah brought Elisha a sack of fresh corn and twenty individual loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest.   Elisha told Gehazi to use it to feed the young prophets. ‘What?’ Gehazi exclaimed. ’Feed one hundred men with only this?’ But Elisha said, ‘Go ahead, for the Lord says there will be plenty for all, and some will even be left over!’  And sure enough, there was, just as the Lord had said!”  (2 Kings 4:42-44)

His Provision

This was the first example we see of bread being multiplied.  In this case it was barely bread.   Barely bread was considered food for the poor as barely was used to feed animals.  Ezekiel ate it over dung to show the people the poverty they were coming into for their sin.

It was also used to purchase Hosea's harlot wife in Hosea 3:2. And, it was used in a jealousy offering when one suspected their wife was cheating on them.  Gideon was referred to as a loaf of barely tumbling into the camp and striking it in a dream.   Gideon had said when he was called, “my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” (Judges 6:15)

In John 6:6-14, there was a huge crowd of people making their way to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration and following Him wherever He went to watch Him heal the sick.  Jesus took five barley loaves and a couple of fish and lifted them up before God and fed 5,000 people to their fill.

It is a shadow of Jesus.  Jesus was born in a manger among the poor.  He came for the poor, those who are in need of true nourishment.  And He is always among the poor, offering himself for them and He is what will fill them.  Jesus was broken for our transgressions (the poor that cannot atone for our own sin). 

While not stated, it is implied that the seven loaves of bread used to feed the 4,000 was also barely as it was the supplies, along with two small fish, that the disciples had with them to eat for the day.  Jesus took these loaves, broke them into pieces and passed them to the disciples to give out.    Again, they ate to their fill. 

Then there is an interesting teaching about the leftovers.  When the disciples were talking about a comment that Jesus made about the yeast of Herod and the Pharisees, thinking he must be speaking about them forgetting their daily supply of bread that day, Jesus confronted them for being dull spiritually and not fully getting it.

In Mark 8:15-21 he says to them, “’What about the 5,000 men I fed with five loaves of bread?  How many basketfuls of scraps did you pick up afterwards?’ ‘Twelve,’ they said.  ‘And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how much was left?’  ‘Seven basketfuls,’ they said.   ‘And you think I’m worried that we have no bread?’”

Being an accountant, I’ve always tried to do the math on this and scratched my head a little as not fully getting it.   But I read a short post from Charles Stanley and it made sense.   With the feeding of 5,000, there were 12 baskets left over and 12 disciples that day.   With the feeding of 4,000, the supplies of the disciples were seven loaves—for seven disciples that day!  And there were seven basketfuls left over.

God knew the exact provision that was needed.  As the disciples fed the poor among them, the Lord didn’t forget about the disciples. There was exactly enough left over to feed them in abundance. Jehovah-Jireh – the Lord is our provider.

And just as with the manna in the desert, the Lord was providing exactly what was needed for the time.  Did not want them to store up food for themselves or worry about what they would eat.   As they cared for the poor, broken and hurting among them, they would be supplied an overflowing basket of abundance exactly when needed. They would eat their fill and not be in lack.

Some years ago when I was an empty nester, I used to lead a weekly women’s Bible study.   We would meet every Saturday morning for fellowship and then go over to the Marie Sandvik Center where we would prepare a meal for the homeless and all the kids coming that day to have biblical teaching.  It was such a gift and wonderful time of fellowship for us.  We loved it and it filled us with an overabundance of joy. 

One day, when I was cleaning up after with bleach, I accidently got a streak across my favorite black pants. I saw they were ruined with a bleached white strip across them.  I was disappointed but moved on.   As I finished the dishes and did the final look over of the kitchen, I looked down and the bleach mark was gone completely.  Not that this is a huge miracle of healing but it was so meaningful as I knew God was just with us and loving upon us as we cared for the poor.  

His Presence

The Lord was clearly present among us which brought me such joy.  We know that besides His provision, bread represents Him – His presence.   He says in John 6:35, “I am the Bread of Life.  No one coming to Me will ever be hungry again.”  And, like a barely loaf, His purpose in coming was to save and nourish the poor, meek and broken hearted. 

In Isaiah 61:1, it says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound…”   As we know from Luke 4:21, this scripture is fulfilled through Jesus. It was His purpose.

His presence changes everything.  There is a story in 2 Kings 4:38-41 where there was a famine in the land.  Elisha asked Gehazi to make some supper for all the young prophets that were with them.  They used some wild gourds without realizing they were poisonous.   As they tasted it, they cried out, “'Oh sir, there’s poison in this stew!'  Elisha thru meal [barley grain] into the stew and it was healed and they ate it." 

The meal represented Jesus.  In times of judgement in the land, it is easy to get poisoned by all the difficulty and darkness that is around us.  But Jesus’ presence among us changes us.  It removes all the poison of the world and brings healing and hope as well as provision.

The Lord is with the poor and for them. There is a story in the bible of four lepers sitting outside the city gates when it was under siege.  They decided among themselves to surrender, and most likely would have died; but, as they went out, the Lord made the whole Syrian army hear the clatter of chariots and horses causing them to panic and flee, leaving all their supplies and food behind.  

A moment of pause... the Lord moved an entire army out of the way for four lepers that no one would have put any value on their lives because of their leprosy.     Not only this, be He then used these four to provide for everyone else through them.   

On my watch face, I have a picture of Jesus.  In this picture, everyone in the background is scurrying along like we see in the pictures of the sidewalks of New York during rush hour.  Everyone in a hurry coming to or from work.   Yet, here is Jesus on the edge of the sidewalk.  He is sitting like a homeless man with a messy grocery cart behind him.  No one is really paying attention to Him.  They just walk around Him like He is insignificant in their hurried schedules.  

There is an invitation for me in this picture so I keep it close.   I can run around like everyone else in a hurry on to the next thing that needs to be accomplished, or I can come sit down next to Jesus and take in His company. And I can always find Him among the poor.  They matter to Him. 

He takes caring for the poor so significantly; He uses this to divide the sheep and goats in end times.  He says, “Whatever we do for the least of these, we do onto Him (Matthew 25:40).  And it says in Matthew 25:45 for those who overlooked or ignored the least, "He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'”

In Matthew 23:23, The Lord speaks out against the religious leaders of the time and calls them hypocrites for their superficial faith in caring for the least.  While they followed rules like tithing and making sure they did this all the way down to the last mint leaf, they were neglecting the weightier matters of the law—justice, mercy and faith.  

They did not value the poor.   They were failing terribly in caring and compassion for others, especially for those in need.  From the Word, we know they gave to the poor and made a point of being seen for doing it.   But they looked down on them and did not genuinely care for and value them.   We see this with Jesus healing someone on the Sabbath and with Jesus having fellowship with the poor. 

His Power

As Jesus was sitting with the tax collectors and other sinners, the religious leaders confronted Him about it.   They saw that He aways seemed to be found among those they saw as detestable and heathen.   The poor.   Jesus responded, it is not the healthy that need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:30-32).

Those who are poor and in need, pull on the power of God.  We see this with the woman with the issue of blood.  As she pulled on the tassel of His robe, she was healed after all her years of suffering.   He knew someone pulled on the power but did not know who it was. 

His power is activated by the needy who seek Him in humility.  Over and over, as the lepers, blind, sick, demon-possess, and sinners, reached out to Jesus for healing, He responded. In Mark 1:40-41, a leper reached out to Jesus and asked to be healed from leprosy.  With pity, Jesus touched him and said, “I want to! Be healed!”

Matthew 14:36 says, “The sick begged Him to let them touch even the tassel of His robe, and all who did were healed.”

Jesus is not moved by the self-righteous who want to show Him how they have everything together and are in need of nothing.  With the man who was looking to get into heaven by being ‘good’ in Mark 10:18-23, Jesus told him to sell all he had and give the money to the poor-and he would have treasure in heaven- and come follow Him.   What an incredible offer and calling to follow Him.  If he only knew how great this offer was and the One making it!   But because he couldn’t see it, he walked away very sad.

This one makes me cry.  I so want this for myself, not to walk away but to give everything away as I follow Him.   I want my life to say something to Him.  God has given me everything when I had nothing.  He gave me value.  He gave and gives my life meaning and purpose.   I don’t want to walk away from Him or hold something back.  I don’t to fall short but at the same time, I could never do enough, give enough, or say enough to speak of anything near His infinite worth.

Jesus is also not moved in power by those who have no faith and fail to see how great He is but, rather, treat Him as common.  We see this with the religious leaders as well as those who grew up around Jesus.  They could only see him as “the carpenter’s son” down the road and Jesus could do very few miracles because of their lack of faith.

Jesus looked intently at His disciples in Mark 10:37, “Without God, it is utterly impossible.  But with God everything is possible.”

His power is activated by faith in those that believe how good He is and how big He is. Over and over, we read stories in the Bible of people who were not deserving of miracles but petitioned Jesus by faith and received what they asked for.  They knew that if they could just get ahold of Jesus, all impossible things became possible.

In Mark 10:52, Jesus told a blind man, “All right, it’s done.  Your faith has healed you.”

David was someone who saw God as huge and powerful.  He knew God was mighty and there was no other like Him.  There was no comparison.   At the same time, David stayed poor, teachable and often needy in His sight.  As a result, he regularly encountered the display of the glory of God in the power of God.

“There is healing and breakthrough when we behold You, Jesus our endless supply.  You’re all we’re after” sings in the background. 

Lord, I long to give You more and often fall so short.  Have mercy on me. Help us love You more.  Give us a fresh glimpse of how incredible and good You are.  Let us not be like the rich man who walked away very sad.  We need You.  Let our lives be filled with Your provision, presence and power that we would walk in the fullness of all You have for us in Your Kingdom purposes, and be with You—following You in this hour.